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[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 609 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 609

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 14, 2017

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 
 To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs health care center in 
Center Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, as the ``Abie Abraham VA 
                               Clinic''.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Abie Abraham of Lyndora, Pennsylvania, was stationed 
        during World War II with the 18th Infantry in New York; 3 years 
        with the 14th Infantry in Panama; 15th Infantry, unassigned in 
        China, while the U.S.S. Panay was sunk; 30th Infantry, 
        Presidio, San Francisco; and the 31st Infantry, Manila, 
        Philippines, for 9 years.
            (2) During World War II, Abraham fought, was captured, 
        endured the Bataan Death March and as a prisoner of war for 
        3\1/2\ years, was beaten, stabbed, shot, survived malaria and 
        starvation to be rescued by the 6th Rangers.
            (3) Abraham stayed behind at the request of General Douglas 
        MacArthur for 2\1/2\ more years disinterring the bodies of his 
        fallen comrades from the Bataan Death March and the prison 
        camps, helping to identify their bodies and see that they were 
        properly laid to rest.
            (4) After his promotion in 1945, Abraham came back to the 
        United States where he served as a recruiter and then also 
        served 2 years in Germany until his retirement with 30 years of 
        service as a Master Sergeant.
            (5) Abraham received numerous medals for his service, 
        including the Purple Heart, and had several documentaries on 
        the Discovery Channel and History Channel.
            (6) Abraham wrote the books ``Ghost of Bataan Speaks'' in 
        1971 and ``Oh, God, Where Are You'' in 1977 to help the public 
        better understand what our brave men endured at the hands of 
        the Imperial Japanese Army as prisoners of war.
            (7) Abraham was a life member of the Veterans of Foreign 
        Wars, the American Legion, the Purple Heart Combat/Infantry 
        Organization, the American Ex-POWs, the Disabled American 
        Veterans, and the American Defenders of Bataan.
            (8) Abraham was a volunteer at Veterans Affairs Butler 
        Healthcare for 23 years from 1988 to 2011 and had 36,851 
        service hours caring for our veterans.

SEC. 2. ABIE ABRAHAM VA CLINIC.

    (a) Designation.--The Department of Veterans Affairs health care 
center in Center Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, shall after the 
date of the enactment of this Act be known and designated as the ``Abie 
Abraham VA Clinic''.
    (b) References.--Any reference in any law, regulation, map, 
document, paper, or other record of the United States to the health 
care center referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed to be a 
reference to the ``Abie Abraham VA Clinic''.

            Passed the House of Representatives February 13, 2017.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.
```